The Pingtung County Government on Tuesday said it is offering a reward for green iguanas, an invasive species that has been eating crops and damaging infrastructure.
From Monday to Dec. 20, people who bring in green iguanas at least 20cm in length from snout to vent would be given a package of Eagle red beans for each reptile captured dead or alive, the county said in a news statement.
People should turn in live or newly killed green iguanas to the Pingtung or Chaojhou fire department stations to receive their reward, it said.
Photo courtesy of the Pingtung County Government
Native to the Americas, green iguanas were introduced to Taiwan as pets, it said, adding that many owners abandoned the animals after realizing that a mature specimen could grow to up to 1.5m.
While iguanas are not aggressive, they have been known to scare people and they can eat enough vegetables to affect a farmer’s income, it said.
Left unchecked, a large population of wild green iguanas could endanger life and property by destroying irrigation and ditches, as they burrow for warmth and to reproduce, it said.
Green iguanas are mainly found in Pingtung City and Wandan (萬丹), Jhutian (竹田), Linluo (麟洛), Chaojhou (潮州) and Jiouru (九如) townships, Pingtung County Department of Agriculture Director-General Huang Kuo-jung (黃國榮) said.
Eagle red beans have won awards in the county for their quality and people are urged to kill or catch green iguanas of reproductive age, he said.
As omnivores that feed on plant shoots, leafs and small insects, the iguanas pose little physical threat to humans, the department said, but added that people trying to kill or capture the reptiles should “watch for the tail.”
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